Keeping wild and exotic animals as pets threatens public health and safety as well as animal welfare. Wild animals can attack and spread disease, and the average pet owner cannot provide the care they need in captivity. From tigers to bears to chimpanzees, these are dangerous wild animals—and in some states it's perfectly legal to keep one as a pet.

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Could Your Neighbor Have a Lion?

A patchwork of state laws regulate the ownership of dangerous exotic animals. Is your state one of the five with no regulations at all?

Dangerous Species

Often subjected to extreme confinement and neglect, pet lions, tigers and other big cats have killed more than 19 people in the U.S. since 1990 and injured hundreds more. problems with big cats as pets